I was hoping that the Spurs would win their series against the Nuggets, but sadly the better team won, and now the Blazers are stuck playing the Nuggets.

My brain says Denver wins this series, but my heart says Portland. The Blazers have a hard time winning in Denver, and with the situation at the Center position, Jokic is going to feast. I'm saying Portland in six though. The inconsistency of the Nuggets' role players nearly cost them the series against a pedestrian Spurs team, and I think Portland's guards will dominate. Probably jinxing them here, but give me the Blazers in six games.

Not the funnest game to watch, but hey, a win is a win. Lillard played by far his worst game of the post-season but despite iffy officiating and an absurd rebounding advantage, the Nuggets could not buy a bucket all game. Denver shouldn't panic about this loss given their anomalous shooting but they probably won't see another 13 point night from Lillard in this series.

Jamal Murray seems to be the bellwether for the Nuggets. If his thigh injury seriously limits him, I think Portland has an excellent shot at advancing. Harkless says he's fine, and I hope he's right because he's super important.

Shout out to Rodney Hood. Everybody trashed the acquisition (besides Barkley) but he's a good guy to have around. While he's inconsistent and generally a below average player, he can get buckets. A guy like him can make all the difference in a game like last night. Zach Collins was also pretty good as well.

The Blazers are a better team. It was evident from game 2. What should have been a blow out win by Blazers was kept in check by the refs.

Jokic is a great center and would be the best player of the series by norm but in this era, traditional style centers are easier to counter. Lillard & cos should prevail unless refs do what they normally do and fuck up.

I consider the Nuggets are kinda like Blazers from one or two seasons ago. They're young and they got some growing/adjustment to do before making real noise in this league. They could falter like Jazz and stay mediocre or they could do good and be the Blazers of today in perhaps couple of years. We'll see.

Yeah Denver is a lot better from 3 so it was simply luck that they missed all those shots. But if they continue to play that way, Blazers should come out on top because as the old saying goes, "live by the 3, die by the 3".

Man, it's so hard to overcome great free throw shooting teams at the end of games like the old D'Antoni Suns. It's just an automatic two points every time. Great free throw shooting by that bastard Murray whose Canadian heritage is obvious in his free throw ritual

I was sad I missed the 4 OT game the other night at work but I should stop watching as the ones I've watched this series have resulted in losses